


a late thaw

by helsinkibaby



Category: NCIS
Genre: Community: 1-million-words, F/M, Het, Meet the Family, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 12:36:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14402271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: Ellie takes Nick home for the weekend.





	a late thaw

**Author's Note:**

> For the one million words weekend challenge. Three words, swing, robin, cobweb

Ellie doesn’t startle, doesn’t even blink when a mug of coffee materialises in front of her, the creak of the wooden porch under Nick’s footsteps already having given him away. She accepts it gratefully, takes his from him too as she scoots over to make room for him. He eyes the porch swing suspiciously, looks down at her with one eyebrow raised. “Seriously? This is where you people choose to sit in Oklahoma?” 

“It’s relaxing,” she counters. 

He snorts a response but nonetheless sits down beside her, presses up against her and lets her snuggle into his side as she hands him his coffee and wraps the blanket around them both. “It’s freezing, is what it is,” he tells her with an exaggerated shiver. “I thought it was supposed to be springtime?”

“There’s a late thaw this year, which is why I have the blanket,” she explains patiently. “Besides, fresh air will blow the cobwebs off your brain.” He looks at her like she’s crazy. “It’s something my grandma used to say, ok?” 

He’s mentioned enough things his grandma used to say that he doesn’t touch that one. “Your mom told me you were out here,” he says, like she hadn’t already guessed that. “Kinda early to be up isn’t it?” 

Ellie smiles into her coffee, doesn’t bother mentioning that he’s awake too. “I’m weird like that,” she says, continuing quickly at the amused look he gives her. “When I’m in DC, all I want to do on a day off is sleep in. When I’m here, I’m up with the sun.” 

There’s a soft snicker beside her. “And there I was thinking it was because you couldn’t sleep without me.” The sip of coffee he takes can’t hide the curl of his lips but she still bites her lip. 

“I’m sorry about that.” She’d seen his surprise the previous day when her mom had shown them to separate bedrooms but he hadn’t said anything about it, just thanked her and put his case inside the door before carrying Ellie’s to her own room. His eyes had lingered on the full sized bed but again, he’d been uncharacteristically silent when her mom was around and even when she wasn’t. “Mom always had a thing about unmarried couples sleeping in the same bed... I thought it might be different since I’ve actually been divorced but...”

“Ellie.” He reaches for her hand under the blanket, squeezes her fingers. His are warm from the coffee mug and his voice is gentle, teasing even. “It’s my first time meeting your mom, the first time I’m a guest in her house. I have no problem jumping through whatever hoops she puts in front of me.” His eyes are dark and serious when they meet hers. “I know how much this weekend matters to you.” 

A lump rises in Ellie’s throat and she forces it back down. “She just worries.” Because her mom had been there for the fallout after Jake had cheated, after Qasim had died, had worried about Ellie shutting herself off from everyone and everything. Still, when she’d heard Ellie had started dating a co-worker, her first words had been, “Sweetheart, are you sure?” 

She hadn’t told Nick that. 

She had told him that her mom had wanted to meet him for months, almost as long as he’d been wanting to meet her, having long since met her brothers. Ellie had dodged it for as long as she could, without really knowing why, until yesterday. 

Because she knew what him meeting her mom meant, knew what a big step it was and even if she hadn’t realised it, she hadn’t been sure she was ready. 

Now she wonders why she kept them apart for so long. 

“Of course she worries, she’s your mom.” Nick takes another mouthful of coffee. “And I figure that when she figures out I worry about you just as much, to say nothing of what will happen after I lay some of the famous Torres charm on her, we’re gonna get along just fine.” 

Ellie giggles at that like she knows she was meant to. It’s one of the things that most surprises her about her relationship with Nick - for all the times he makes her crazy, and they are often, he makes her laugh just as much. “Although I am surprised you didn’t try to sneak into my room,” she teases, leaning into him and he shrugs with the shoulder she’s not pressed against. 

“I considered it,” he tells her. “Then I figured I deserved a night without you stealing the covers and leaving me freezing-” He breaks off with a yelp and a laugh combined as her jaw drops open and she swats at his shoulder. “Hey, watch the coffee.” 

She arches an eyebrow and laughingly warns him, “Coffee should be the least of your concerns.” 

“Please.” He’s putting on his smuggest face but she knows it’s just for show. “Like you could stay mad at this face.” Ellie makes a non-committal noise at the back of her throat and Nick just laughs. “If it means that much to you, I’ll try sneaking in tonight,” he assures her. “Unless you showing me around your hometown tires me out.” 

Ellie shakes her head. “Trust me, there’s not that much to see.” 

“I dunno.” Nick sits up a little, leans forward and surveys the view in front of them, Mom’s flowerbeds beside the porch, the grass lawn beyond it, the trees beyond that, one housing the bird feeding platform where her mom’s favourite robins come back year after year. “This place alone looks like it’s bigger than half of my block back home. And it’s so quiet.” Nick is warming to his theme, she can tell. “No traffic, no sirens, no people walking by...” 

“I like that.” It's one of the things she always forgets until she comes back here, how much she enjoys the silence, the solitude. “It’s peaceful.” 

Nick’s head turns sharply towards her. “You ever see yourself moving back here? Settling down?” He sounds alarmed at the prospect and for some reason that she can’t quite articulate - or rather she can, she just doesn’t want to, doesn’t want to tempt fate - it makes her smile. 

“No,” she says softly. The look of relief on his face is almost comical. “No, it’s nice to visit... but I’m too used to the city now. Plus, not a lot of call for NCIS in Oklahoma.” She rests her cheek against his shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to drag you out to the boonies.” 

His chuckle is soft against her hair. “I’d go anywhere with you,” he tells her and it shouldn’t make her heart skip a beat because she’s too old for clichés, but it does. “But... maybe not the boonies.” 

They laugh together and she shifts so that she can lean more comfortably against him. She can feel him press a kiss to the top of her head and she smiles as she closes her eyes, trying to remember the last time she felt this completely and utterly relaxed. “What, you’re going asleep on me now? Your mom won’t mind as long as we’re not in bed?” He’s teasing her again, she can tell by the tone of his voice and she opens her eyes again, tilts her head so she can look up at him. What she sees there has her heart skipping a beat all over again. 

“I’ll take my chances,” she tells him and the smile he gives her is almost bright enough to blind her. 

“I can go with that,” he says and for a simple phrase, it sounds more important, more serious. Ellie thinks that should scare her but it doesn’t. “Look, a robin,” she hears him say, and she looks across to the trees, sees the familiar flash of red. “Looks like that late thaw’s finally here.” 

Ellie closes her eyes again. “Yeah,” she whispers. “I know.”


End file.
